Category Archives: How To Choose Carpet

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Why do most homeowners overpay for new Carpet and Flooring?

It’s because they fail to do their homework! By doing a few hours of research, most homeowners can save a ton of money and end up selecting the right grade of carpet or flooring product that will meet or exceed their goals, lifestyle and overall expectations.

I have written dozens of online pages on my websites which contain valuable content that you can use to help you make wise and informed carpet and flooring selections.

You should be very wary of all the scams and rip-offs that are prevalent thru-out the carpet and flooring industry. This is a wake up call! I am sure you have heard about con-artists who are out to steal your personal identity and scam you out of your hard earned money with online phishing scams. Well the same is true in the carpet and flooring business. There are plenty of carpet and flooring scams that you need to learn how to avoid!

Visit my website to get education from my 30+ years of hands-on experience and stellar unbiased carpet and flooring information that will help you avoid common scams and rip-offs. Visit www.AbcCarpets.com to learn how to avoid common retailer Carpet and Flooring Scams and rip-offs!

If you have active kids and teenagers like I’ve had, you know first-hand that you cannot be in all places at all times and when your child spills grape juice or drops a peanut butter and jelly sandwich face-down on your carpet, it takes more than a just few minutes to get those stains to come out!

I also had two cats… that for some reason would vomit on the carpet quite often. I never did find out why they do this but I get plenty of emails from other homeowners who have the exact same problem!

My wife and I had four kids and they were all born about 2 years apart. So having a one-year old, a three-year old a five-year old and seven-year old kept us running both day and night!

How I survived 4 kids and 2 cats

Since I am a carpet installer, I had the ability to change our family room carpet at a much lower cost than most homeowners. But that doesn’t mean you should have to pay a fortune to replace your carpet on a regular basis if you have active children, teens or pets. In my free and unbiased articles posted on my websites you will learn many powerful insider secrets to buying the right grade of carpet for your home and how to negotiate a fair and square deal.

If you want to buy a carpet to last for 3 to 5 years… Don’t spend more than you need to! You can buy a decent looking nylon carpet that will last for three years or more for less than $16 per square yard installed with pad! How? Let me teach you all the tips and tricks I’ve learned to help you save the most money possible and save you time and headaches too!

On the other hand, if you want to buy a carpet that can last for 10 to 20 years or more, then I can help you choose the right grade to meet your needs and goals.

Take a look at all my free articles to learn more about choosing the right grade of carpet and padding for your active children, teenagers and pets!

If you don’t have kids teens or pets, then your choices will increase and your new carpet will last years longer, that is if you care for it properly!

My friends over at The Carpet Guys have a post going up on their blog today about the differences between Frieze and Berber that is a worthwhile read for homeowners. Here is their link: http://bit.ly/1SZZg94

I live in Clinton Township Michigan. My husband and I are looking to replace all of our upstairs carpet. The carpet to be replaced includes a hall, a stair case with 12 stairs, and four upper bedrooms.

Last week I stopped into a local family owned carpet store to look at a carpet that I had seen in a family member’s home. The carpet was made by Mohawk and is made from 75% Smartstrand and 25% P.E.T. Polyester.

Tonight we had an in-home estimate from a well-known shop-at- home company. The salesman brought out some plush style carpets that he stated were great for high traffic areas. He showed us a 60 oz weight, and a 50 oz weight carpet samples. I asked him if in fact that they carried “Smartstrand” and he said yes however that it was a special order carpet. He went on to say that the sample that I had from the local dealer was only about a 30 oz face weight and would mat down over time. He instead suggested that his Shaw plush style was a much better choice for the stairs and hall. He quoted us $3,750 to do the hall/stairs and the four bedrooms. I had received a quote of $4,036 from the local family owned carpet store with the 30 oz face weight carpet.

Both offered 8 lb padding. The shop-at- home company offered padding without the moisture barrier, they have it but he did not believe that we needed it (because it is just me and my husband in the home), but the local dealer offered padding with the moisture barrier.

I came across your site after going online to look at some other local carpet stores to see what they may have to offer. I guess I would like an expert such as you to weigh in or give some advice as to why the local carpet store would only offer us a 30 oz face weight and give a quote of $4000 dollars and the shop-at- home carpet company quote $3,750.00 with w 60 oz face weight. Looking forward to hearing back from you.

Cathy

Hi Cathy,

Thanks for your carpet questions! I have to make some assumptions with the limited information you gave me, so this email is my best “guesstimate” response for you.

It sounds like you had Empire Today out tonight to show you some polyester carpet samples. I never recommend buying carpet from Empire, and I don’t recommend you buy a carpet made of PET or Polyester fibers unless you want it to last for less than 7 years. Those are the absolute worst fibers, no matter what they tell you. Neither of two carpets you mentioned can handle medium to heavy foot traffic regardless of their 50 or 60-ounce face-weights. Fiber type, Tuft twist and pile density are way more important factors to consider than is a higher face-weight. You need to consider all the carpet specifications to know if the carpet is durable enough to handle your application and last as long as you anticipate. (See attached carpet durability chart)

A carpet made of Nylon is always the best choice for stairs and hallways and other heavy foot-traffic areas. Smartstrand, P.E.T. or Polyester fibers do not perform as well on stairs and hallways as they tend to mat down quickly in medium to heavy foot traffic applications. If your home has low foot-traffic, then a Smartstrand (Triexta) fiber might work well for you, but it should still have good specifications, hopefully more than 30-ounce face-weight and good pile-density rating (see attached carpet durability chart)

Best Padding Choice

You don’t really need a moisture barrier padding, so why pay extra for it. A good quality Rebond type pad, 7/16”, 8-pound density will do the job just fine. Learn more about moisture barrier padding and other specialty padding types.

New Carpet is more costly than most homeowners expect. To help you understand how much new carpet and padding will cost you, I’ve created a helpful New Carpet and Pad Pricing Chart.

Homeowners, if you are in the market for new carpet you should first take my free Carpet Foot Traffic Test and then you can cross reference your unique Level of Foot Traffic with the Number of Years you want your New Carpet to Last.

You will discover what “Grade of Carpet” you need to buy and how much you might need to spend to get the new carpet and padding that will be the best choice for your home.

Don’t be a victim of a carpet scam! Make sure you buy from a reputable Carpet Dealer.

Carpet scams are common! That’s why I’ve created my own special hand-picked list of locally owned and reputable Carpet Dealers that I personally recommend to my readers. Don’t take chances when it comes to buying new carpet or flooring for your home! See who I recommend near you.

Tempted by Home Depot $37 Carpet Installation?

A new round of 2014 TV ads from Home Depot now offers whole house carpet installation for just $37.00. Big box stores want to entice you to buy new carpet from them and it would seem that they are willing to give you a fantastic deal on installation if you do. The question is… Who’s Installing Your Carpet?

Why are they giving away carpet installation for just $37?

There are several reasons why they are giving away carpet installation for just $37. They used to hire carpet installers directly but his backfired on them. Homeowners posted a ton of complaints on the internet claiming poor carpet installation and poor customer service. Today they contract out their installs to an independent installation company.

Let me ask you… If you pay just $37 installation for a whole house full of carpet and the installer does a lousy job, what recourse do you have? Maybe they will come back and try to fix it. Maybe they will say it’s a carpet defect and that it is not their fault. Maybe they will refund your money… But wait….You only paid $37 for installation right? What is their financial liability to you in the event they cannot satisfy you? Might it be a $37 refund? What will it cost you to fight them in small claims court?

Who’s Installing Your Carpet?

Big box retailers used to hire sub-contracted carpet installers, but they had a real hard time finding and keeping qualified installers. It didn’t take long before all the real good installers left and would never return to work for the big box stores again.

Why?

Back in the 90’s Home Depot paid local installers a little better for carpet installation than the locally owned carpet stores, but they were so unorganized at the store level, that every morning a dozen or so carpet installers would stand around for hours waiting to load up the carpet and pad for the day’s job. Most often, the store personnel could not locate the carpet because it was buried somewhere in the back room along with dozens of appliances, boxes and various building materials. It would take a fork lift operator hours to finally uncover the rolls of carpet that had arrived the previous week.

Where’s My Carpet?

Often the carpet would be delivered to the wrong store, or the carpet would not arrive on schedule and the homeowners were never notified of the delay. Homeowners were heaping mad! They had already moved all the furniture out, taken time off work and the homeowner ended up waiting hours without a call or explanation. Carpet installers were angry too. A whole day was wasted without any pay because the job was scheduled but the carpet never arrived.

The store manager knew nothing, the person who ordered the carpet did not do any follow-up, and when a homeowner would call for an update, nobody knew anything. When a homeowner would call, the staff would often say something like, “Bob is in charge of handling all that and this is his day off!” Then and now, I seriously question Home Depot’s ability to properly run a carpet business. I do not think they should be in the carpet or flooring business at all.

Home Depot finally decided to contract out all of their carpet installations to independent flooring installation companies. This limits their liability since they now have nothing to do with the installers directly. If something goes wrong with your carpet install, Home Depot may simply refer you to the installation company, “Here’s their phone number, give them a call and have them come back and take a look.”

But is it an installation problem or a carpet defect?

The carpet installer says its a carpet defect NOT a bad install. Now you have to call the carpet manufacturer and ask to have an inspector come by and take a look. The carpet inspector comes to your home and says it’s an installation issue NOT a carpet defect. Now what do you do?

What is $37 carpet installation really worth? Do you want to spend thousands on new carpet and then pay almost nothing for one of the most important aspects of the job? It doesn’t make much sense to me and I have been in the carpet business over 30 years. Any carpet you buy must be installed properly or it will wear out prematurely and improper installation can easily void the carpet warranty too.

What a sweet deal for big box retailers! Just collect all the money (profit) upfront and never have to worry about dealing with carpet complaints. They even use an independent company to do all their in-home measuring, and they can charge you a hefty fee for that if you don’t buy from them. (read more about carpet measuring scams on my website).

Beyond the definition of a “Basic Installation”

How can installers survive on $37? In reality, they are paid more. Not only that, they are allowed to charge you excessively for every little extra option you require. Need some new tack-less strips? Need carpet on stairs? Need metal transitions or thresholds? Need the old carpet and pad removed and hauled away? Have a Mobile Home? It’s all extra.

The list of extra charges you might encounter beyond their definition of a “basic installation” could easily cost you hundreds more than you expect. When the carpet installers show up with your new carpet and have the chance to take a good look at your home, they will then let you know exactly how much more you have to cough up for them to install your carpet. Have your checkbook ready!

Where to Find Well-Trained and Qualified Carpet and Flooring Installers?

I don’t recommend buying carpet from big box retailers like Home Depot or Lowe’s.You have way too much at stake should something go wrong. It’s real important to make sure your new carpet is installed correctly according to the manufacturers guidelines. Following The Carpet and Rug Installation Standard 105 is usually required. See it here: CRI Carpet Installation Standard 2011(PDF 1.06 MB)

The fact is, locally owned and family-run carpet dealers have a much easier time finding and keeping qualified flooring installers. Most locally owned carpet dealers have long term relationships with experienced and well-trained installers that have been working with them for decades. This is great news for you because locally owned flooring dealers tend to offer the best customer service, offer lower prices, provide honest measuring and give free estimates.

Please be aware… not all locally owned flooring dealers are honest and reputable and carpet scams are common. Since 2008 I have been compiling a short list of locally owned carpet dealers that meet my requirements. See who I recommend near you! Alan’s Preferred Carpet Dealer Directory

“Unless you learn how to make wise and informed carpet choices this scenario could happen to you…”

After saving upyou have finally stashed away enough money to buy new carpet for your home! So you head over to a nearby carpet retailer and the salesperson helps you select the carpet of your dreams. After your new carpet is installed you are pleased with the way everything turned out, you love the color and how soft it feels underfoot.

You upload photos of your beautiful new carpet on your social media page and are looking forward to inviting your family over for the holidays! You recommend the carpet retailer to your friends and co-workers and post a positive review of your experience for the carpet retailer online.

Then a couple of years later you realize that your beautiful new carpet is starting to mat down and look ugly down the hallway and along your main traffic lanes. You try to spot clean these areas and vacuum the areas more often, but it doesn’t seem to help or make it look any better…

Finally as your carpet continues to mat down, you decide to call the carpet dealer to complain and they send someone out to take a look, they take pictures and ask you a lot of questions.

A few weeks later they call you to say your warranty claim for the carpet has been denied for one reason or another. Maybe it’s because there is no warranty coverage for “matting or crushing” of the carpet pile. Maybe it’s blamed on a bad installation job or maybe they blame you for not maintaining the carpet according to the manufacturer’s warranty requirements.

Regardless of their reason for denying your warranty claim, you now have to live with the carpet until you are able to save up enough money to replace it.

Don’t let this happen to you!

Some carpets are designed to tolerate heavy foot traffic and some are not. A good carpet salesperson will make sure you choose a carpet that is capable of tolerating your level of foot traffic you have in your home. Some carpet salespeople are more concerned with “closing the deal” rather than making sure you choose a carpet that is designed meet your needs and goals.

Getting ready to buy new carpet? Here is what I suggest you do. Do your carpet homework… Read through my website and learn my helpful tips, tricks and insider secrets that will help you make wise carpet choices from start to finish. It all free! http://CarpetProfessor.com

Be sure you take my free Carpet Foot Traffic Test to see what grade or quality of carpet you need to meet your needs and goals.

Before you begin shopping for new carpet, visit my Preferred Carpet Dealer Directory to see who I recommend near you. Be sure to print out and use my free discount coupon and get up to $100 off your carpet purchase. Get several bids or estimates from other carpet retailers and be sure to ask for a detailed breakdown of all the charges and fees.

Feel free to email me any carpet questions you may have along your carpet buying journey. – Alan Fletcher aka The Carpet Professor.

#HowToBuyCarpet

http://www.CarpetProfessor.com – Learn everything you need to know about buying new carpet wisely!

We had a Karastan nylon carpet installed about 8 years ago. It’s now deteriorating rapidly. We continue to find thousands of broken carpet fibers in the carpet and on adjacent surfaces every day, even after vacuuming.

I was led to understand that nylon carpet is the most durable fiber available, so I’m very surprised at this deterioration. Parts of the carpet are often exposed to sunlight, and deterioration is worse in those areas.

Is this deterioration common in nylon carpets? Would steam cleaning prevent further deterioration?

_________________________________

Alan’s Response:

Thanks for your email. Sorry to hear about your carpet troubles. I don’t have a complete picture of your circumstances so I am going to give you my best opinion and a general response and let you draw your own conclusions. Feel free to respond with additional info you think may be pertinent! There may be several issues you need to consider…

Direct and indirect sunlight is bad for all carpets and causes the fiber to become faded and weak and the backing to become dry and brittle. This sounds like your main issue. Other factors that may be contributing to the deterioration: Your climate, type of heat used in your home, very low humidity combined with other climactic factors can easily play a part to your carpet deteriorating more quickly. Heavy foot traffic, active kids and pets, and improper maintenance also help break down the carpet fiber prematurely.

Contact the retailer where you purchased it and ask them to come out and take a look. Do you have your original sales receipt showing exactly what carpet style you purchased? If so, they can look it up to see the warranty limitations. Do you still have your original warranty paperwork? If so, you may still have some limited recourse from the manufacturer if you have followed all their warranty requirements to the letter.

Steam cleaning will not solve the problem, but is required periodically to keep your carpet warranty in force. If your warranty has expired or is null and void due to your negligence, then you should contact a reputable carpet cleaning expert and have them take a look. They may have a way to help extend the life of your carpet for a little while longer.

Yes, nylon is the most durable fiber available today, however not all nylon carpets are created equal. It all boils down to the manufacturers specifications of the carpet in question, including: Fiber type, tuft-twist, pile height, pile density, fiber face-weight, and much more… How well the carpet is constructed makes a big difference in the life-span and overall durability of the carpet. Take a look at my Carpet Durability Chart (see attached file). It may help you make wise carpet choices in the future.

Karastan does make a good carpet, but some carpets are only designed to last 7 to 10 years. Maybe your carpet has already lived it’s intended lifespan. Don’t expect to get a free replacement or a huge discount on new carpet, but there is a small chance for a little something in your favor if the dealer you purchased from is reputable and locally-owned. Family-run flooring dealers are often willing to (throw you a bone) give you a discount on your new carpet to make sure you are a satisfied repeat customer.

If you purchased from a locally-owned, family-run flooring dealer, I have found that being pleasant and patient during their investigative process will usually lead to a better end-result for you, if you know what I mean. I doubt you will have any warranty coverage at this point, but the dealer knows you have plenty of friends, co-workers and relatives in their service area and you might mention you would be happy to recommend them highly and post a favorable online review if you are treated right. If you did not purchase your carpet from a locally-owned family-run flooring dealer, then your outcome may not be very favorable for you.

Before You Buy New Carpet Checklist – CarpetProfessor.com

There are certain wise steps every homeowner should take in order to make sure the carpet you buy will meet your needs and goals and that you don’t make simple yet costly carpet buying mistakes.

The Carpet Professor (www.carpetprofessor.com) has published a free and useful list of The order of events you need to be aware of, and what issues you need to look out for, in a handy and useful PDF file entitled: “Before You Buy New Carpet Checklist”.

Click the link below to learn secrets to how to buy carpet wisely, and what you need to do to make sure your carpet is selected wisely and installed properly and you have few problems along the way!